


Anxieties Sight

by anxiouslyfred



Series: Spooktober 2019 [7]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Cuddling, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Monsters, Panic, mundane dangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21711004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiouslyfred/pseuds/anxiouslyfred
Summary: As Thomas's Anxiety, Virgil sees the world very differently until one morning he doesn't. Figuring out why becomes the most important thing when it's discovered that Patton suddenly sees the world how he was seeing it.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/ Morality | Patton
Series: Spooktober 2019 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576468
Comments: 3
Kudos: 93





	Anxieties Sight

It wasn't that Virgil saw the world completely differently to the other sides, but that all the sides only saw of the world what truly connected to their roles. As Anxiety and Thomas's self preservation instincts that meant Virgil was used to seeing monsters and death everywhere he went. He had to in order to be prepared should there be danger that Thomas found himself in. Over time, and getting to know what the other sides saw as they looked at the world Virgil managed to learn which of the monsters were true threats, which were things to merely keep them all aware of in case he actually did see them becoming true dangers and which were actually good things in disguises, especially when it came to new friends as sometimes all the other people could appear as monsters until Virgil could name them thanks to the other sides reactions.

Then he woke up one morning and there were no monsters at all. Virgil thought it was just a quirk of the mind-scape at first, occasionally thing would change how they saw them inside it, but when he tried to start doing his job there were still no monsters. In fact his focus was being drawn to objects that he could remember being played with since they appeared in the mind-scape while Patton played. Uncertain what was happening and especially how he could do his job while unable to recognise any threats Virgil decided to ask the other sides for some help, heading back into the Commons.

Patton was there when he popped up, cowering and whimpering on the sofa, going between hiding under the blanket and staring at the room around him. Without his usual sight, Virgil couldn't tell what could possibly be scaring the other so much, and even then he could have difficulty understanding the heart and morals emotions.

“Is everything okay Patton?” Virgil asked a little tentatively, hoping he had been noticed and wasn't going to upset the side more.

The other side still jumped, and actually started cowering from Virgil for a moment before his words seemed to be heard. “That's – That's Virgil, isn't it? I'm not – not seeing properly just now Kiddo.” Patton stuttered out and now he was a little closer Virgil could see he was shaking.

“Neither am I, but what are you seeing? It seems to be scaring you a lot.” Virgil kept his voice gentle, wondering if there was something connected between their issues.

“Monsters. There are monsters everywhere and no cute things from out memories or puppies to see at all.” Patton wailed, throwing himself at Virgil now he'd been identified it seemed.

That definitely explained why Virgil wasn't able to see them himself. It seemed like Patton was currently seeing through his view and the things Patton just pointed out that he'd usually see matched what he himself saw. “That's what I normally see, Pat, but I need you to calm down a bit now so I can help you identify what the monsters connect to. Can you breathe slowly with me?” Virgil began, turning Patton to face him and holding his gaze as he led them through a few breathing techniques.

When he seemed calm again, Virgil was already trying to think of how he identified each danger and level of concern needed for it. “We'll go over what we react to in our differing sights in a moment, but for now, I'm going to try and summon the others. They should appear however I did when I first appeared since our sights got switched at first, but I'll identify them straight away so you can recognise them as usual, okay?”

“Yeah, Roman has the most control of what happens in the mind-scape so maybe he'll know.” Patton nodded, still sounding shaky when he glanced back around the room.

With the agreement Virgil waved his hand, focusing on Roman first of all, making sure to keep his hold of Patton as he did so. “Roman.”

As the Creative side rose up Patton let out a whimper curling into Virgil's shoulder for a moment, even if he had known what to expect. “Roman's here now, Patton. It's just him.” Virgil soothed, holding up a hand to pause any reaction Roman might have.

“He doesn't look like Roman though.” Patton insisted, glancing back for just a second.

“But it is definitely I, Padre. What's scared you so?” Roman spoke up at, recognising the confusion on Virgil's face at the reaction.

“Roman!” The cheer at least let the other sides know Patton could recognise him now, but did nothing for the confusion that was growing on Roman's face.

“Yeah, do you know why Patton has my sight and I have his?” Virgil had to ask if only in the hopes Patton wouldn't have to go through much longer surrounded by the monsters that were scaring him so.

The question froze Roman for a moment though. It was too early in the morning for anything he'd done so far that day to have had an impact as Thomas hadn't even started brainstorming ideas yet since he was still getting breakfast. It must have ended up being a healthy one since only Patton or Logan ever influenced the choices Thomas made over what to eat.

Shaking off the sidetrack his thoughts had gone on Roman gave in to the grabby hands being made at him, sitting next to Patton and letting himself be pulled into the cuddle of the pair. “I can't remember anything different happening last night, and Thomas hasn't needed me this morning for anything I've done to have cause this. Perhaps Doctor Factinstein might have an idea?” He suggested, summoning Logan as he spoke.

“What am I needed for? Thomas needs supervision if he is going to make his breakfast adequately.” Logan's tone was scolding as he appeared, but at Patton's yelp and cowering again, he turned to them confused.

“Identify yourself please, L. We have a bit of a situation that Patton, well, currently you're down two of Thomas's main sides being able to properly function.” Virgil glared, even more protective of Patton while he was scared.

There was a moment where Logan corrected his glassed, assessing the others on the sofa. “I am Logan, and have no understanding as to why I need to introduce myself when we've all known each other for almost as many years as Thomas has known about the skills we present.”

“He's him again.” Patton sighed after that. “I can't see you guys until I've properly identified you at the moment.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “What he means is that he's currently got my sight. A lot of things, including each of us appear like monsters unless identified because of the danger level too much logic can have for Thomas, or too much of anyone else's roles. Do you have any information over what could have caused this? Because currently, I just want to focus on the cute or fun things around Thomas, especially since none of his friends are over at the moment, and Patton can just see the monsters I've slowly learnt to recognise for different levels of danger through the years.”

“Currently I should probably be making sure Thomas doesn't accidentally poison himself since he is cooking himself breakfast this morning, but as soon as I've ensured that goes well, I will endeavour to work out what might have caused this.” Logan pursed his lips, waiting for nods of agreement before he sank out to do as he decided.

Virgil sighed, knowing that it was time to try and help Patton do the job he was meant to do. “Roman, even if you don't know what caused this, do you think there's anything you'll be able to do to fix it while Logan's busy?” He suggested, pulling Patton so he was fully in his lap. Describing the monsters for different situations would take concentration and having extra creativity floating around was the last thing either of them really needed for that.

“I'll look, but just call if you need anything, Surly.”Roman agreed, heading up the stairs.

Left alone, Patton nuzzled into Virgil's shoulder, leaning into the only comfort he had in the room now.

He tightened his grip again. “Can you pick just one of the monsters you can see around Thomas and describe it to me?” The soft words were barely a whisper against Patton's hair.

“The closest one is charred, almost cracking, like the lava in Logan's pictures of volcanoes but made human.” Patton closed his eyes to see what was there better.

The description took a moment to place but was easy enough to recognise after Thomas's adventures in learning how to cook. “That's the oven. If Logan has him cooking breakfast then the danger is in the heat. But we both know Logan is well aware of how to act around fire, so Thomas doesn't need to be scared of it, only cautious.” Virgil explained, smiling when he heard a gasp. That was how he always wanted to react when the monster turned back into the object it actually was.

“There's two across from us, expressionless forms, spiked and smooth. I can barely make out any details except the spikes and edges.” The next description was one Virgil was far too familiar with.

“Thomas keeps his sharp knives in a pot on the kitchen side. You can probably see the handles of two that have been left out instead of put away.” The reasoning was met with another sigh, and he realised that in discussing the monsters they were probably making Thomas alert to the small dangers around his kitchen.

Patton was frowning when Virgil looked down at him down however. “I don't know how to describe the last monsters I can see currently. They're zappy, and constantly moving, but I can't work out how else to describe them.”

“How about like electricity?” Virgil suggested, thankful he knew most of the monsters encountered this early in the morning. “It's probably that once again Thomas has left his phone right next to the sink and there's a loose wire in the toaster which means it sparks currently. Neither is immediately dangerous and the phone should be safe even if it falls in, aside from a day or two without that connection to his friends, but I've been trying to get him to replace the toaster for weeks now. Logan is just refusing to factor it into the budget for some reason.”

“That was amazing! How did you manage to get them all to do that?” Patton's voice was awed as he looked up now, no more monsters around Thomas in the real world, nor any that he could see in the living room either. “You even got the ones here to disappear without me ever describing them to you!”

Virgil sighed, happy that had still worked for the other side. “The only reason I ever see monsters here is because there is something unidentified in the real world. That's usually the times I have to ask you guys to tell me what's around us until I work out which thing is dangerous and how concerned I should be making Thomas about it. Like Logan has probably said before, fears and anxieties can be blinding even to what you're worried about so I have to remember what every monster I see is connected to.”

“Kiddo.” They carried on cuddling as Patton seemed now to empathise with how Virgil used to be, scaring and demanding information off them all constantly. Even now he sometimes seemed to interrogate them more than ask questions, but if this was how he saw the world the made perfect sense.

The pair remained curled around each other on the couch for the rest of the day, mainly talking about the different monsters which crossed their paths, especially when Thomas met up with his friends since Virgil had been delighted to see them as Patton saw them.

Logan and Roman ended up working together to figure out what had caused the swap in the other sides sight, finally coming to the conclusion that it was three things coinciding in Thomas's mind to do it. Together they headed back to share their findings and hopefully reverse the effect.

“Patton, it's Logan.” Logan remarked, rising into his spot, a notebook of their information and plan in hand.

Seconds later they were joined by Roman rising up. “Your Prince has returned and with his advisor shall right the wrongs of the space.”

Neither realised that Patton had been waving and cheerful without their introductions but Virgil wasn't going to argue. It would help him if they got in the habit of doing so. “Welcome back Kiddo's. Have you worked out what happened then?”

“Yes, we seem to have accidentally caused this to happen to the pair of you.” Logan nodded, before launching into his explanation. “Last night we were both up rather late. I was finishing up refining one of Roman's ideas in order for Thomas to share with Joan and Talyn today. The idea was that Thomas does an episode exploring how other people might find their sides work together, given the prevalence in our fan base of people creating their own sides. At the same time Roman was settling in to do his nightly job of providing the dreams as Thomas sleeps and had decided to focus upon the thoughts each of us were having towards the day as it has before provided rather compelling narratives for a dreaming Thomas. With the onset of Thomas's dreams it seems my thoughts focused upon how a more socially motivated person would likely have anxieties and morals tightly intertwined held a larger impact in tying you two closer together by changing what abilities you have in your roles.”

“They were already a couple, Logan. I'm wouldn't be entirely sure the change of sight has anything to do with how much they are wrapped around each other.” Roman chuckled, his teasing light as he obviously prepared to do something. “With that knowledge, and Logan focusing on how we all usually are, I should be able to correct your sight with a flick of the wrist. Are you ready for me to reverse this now?”

The two sides grinned, nodding together. “Anytime you like, Princey.” Virgil prompted, more than ready to free Patton from his monsters now.

There was a moment where both of them lost all sight completely, automatically closing their eyes.

When Virgil opened his eyes again it was to a slightly duller world than he'd been seeing that day, and there were still no monsters to be seen given he'd helped Patton to recognise all of them for what they were. He was also staring back at Roman leaning over them as though trying to tell just by looking if it had worked. “Back off dude. I'm pretty sure Patton's the only one that needs to be that close when gazing into my eyes.”

“Oh, when did Thomas get our old yearbook out to read?” Patton was already distracted by the book on the table which Virgil hadn't mentioned being curious about earlier.

That had everyone laughing and giggling together. “I guess that's everyone back to normal then.” Logan nodded.


End file.
